Lets go north, up to Alaska, cross the 53 mile bearing straight underwater to Russia, then down to China?

The Keystone XL is 1,179 miles. The approximate length from Enbridge in Alberta to the Trans-Alaska Pipeline is the same distance.

There are similar risks and arguments of "not in my back yard"... However there is also the option to ship the bitumen by rail to Alaska.

Operation Pluto during WWII built a pipeline crossing the English Channel - which is longer than the bearing straight.

The Bearing Straight bridge is not a new idea.With a bridge you can also connect Asia to America by rail.

Who needs a pipeline then?

Bitumen is contained within every rail car.

By going north and crossing the straight:No tanker costs, no tanker risks. Also the shipping route is outside the ring of fire and those active fault lines.

A 53 mile bridge is not that crazy of an idea and you'll take trade to a whole new level.

well james ...

Comment by Apocalypse Now on 17th August 2012How about we put a pipeline into Alberta and ship them water? That will create lots of pipeline jobs and we can sell water to alberta or exchange it for cheap gas. If there is a spill it wont matter because its just water. Dayum I should be Premier with ideas like that.

re:Refinging in the Patch

Comment by James Ippel on 15th August 2012 There are several problems with refining the Bitumen in the Patch. One would be the opposition to build another Refinery in Alberta, but the most serious problem facing the oil companies and building a Refinery is the lack of water. I have a brother-in-law working for one of the major players up there and I brought up this exact subject: Why not refine here? and he said the simple answer is lack of water. Where does that leave us???? Maybe you have the answer....................

Enlighten me please...

Comment by Apocalypse Now on 13th August 2012Why do you people keep coming up with solutions to ship out our raw natural resources? Refine the bitumen in Alberta and sell the finished product. If its jobs we want this will create the most jobs for Canada. Sending raw bitumen to China to be refined and sold back to us is ludicrous .

freight costs

Comment by gemlog on 11th August 2012I think freight costs scale by roughly a factor of 10 per unit from:ship 1rail 10truck 100to air 1000I'm not sure where pipelines fit. Perhaps between ship and rail?

Very interesting idea....

Comment by Blocky Bear on 11th August 2012however moving freight by water much cheaper=more profitable=no political will=corporation(s) control government=not going to happen! Sorry Richard...keep up the good work! d.b.